Generally, employees have 3 months minus one day from the act or omission complained of to bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal. However, the clock alone will not always save employers. In harassment claims, the Tribunal will consider whether it is “just and equitable” to extend the time limits.
Case Law Example
In Logo v Payone GmbH & Ors [2025] EAT, the Claimant made a claim in March 2021 for race related harassment and referred to two incidences. One was an incident where a colleague dressed up in blackface at a work party in November 2016 (the “Blackface Incident”) and another was a work dinner in June 2019 where a race-related offensive remark was made (the “Offensive Remark”).
The Employment Tribunal had decided that as the claim was presented almost four years on from the Blackface Incident and over 18 months after the Offensive Remark, it was out of time and therefore the Tribunal did not have jurisdiction to consider it.
It stated that a Respondent would be prejudiced as the passage of time had affected the memory of witnesses in relation to the Blackface Incident. However, the respective Respondent had admitted that the incident had occurred, albeit that it had not been purposely offensive. The Tribunal considered that the incident still had the effect of violating the Claimant’s dignity and so constituted harassment. Despite finding that harassment had occurred, the Tribunal did not extend the time limits.
In respect of the Offensive Remark incident, the relevant Respondent had initially not been able to remember this taking place. By the time of the final hearing, he had been reminded of the incident by a colleague and qualified that whilst the remark was made, he was relaying an experience of a colleague. Again, the Tribunal found that this admitted incident still had a harassing effect on the Claimant but that it was out of time, and that it was not just and equitable to extend the time limits due to concerns about memory recollection.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal noted that for both incidences, the Employment Tribunal found that the harassment had occurred yet did not extend the time limits. This deprived the Claimant of any remedy on the basis that the passage of time had affected memory, but this did not prejudice the Respondents as both incidences were accepted as having occurred.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal accepted the appeal and so the time issue has been remitted to the Employment Tribunal for redetermination. This case serves as a reminder that the Tribunal has a wide discretion when considering whether an extension of time should be granted.
Sexual Harassment
As this case shows, employers should therefore not rely on time limits being missed as assurance that an employee can’t then bring a successful claim against them.
The legal duty to take proactive measures to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace came into force in October 2024. Employers should urgently ensure that they are compliant as the expiry of time limits alone will not protect businesses from such claims.
If a claim for sexual harassment succeeds, the Tribunal can increase compensation by up to 25%. The compensation for sexual harassment is uncapped and so failing to meet this duty can prove extremely costly for businesses.
Contact us at Peach Law today to find out how we can help protect your business and ensure that you are meeting your legal obligations.
